It’s time to get a little bit old school on y’all. Follow me
as we whisk away back to the year 2000. Ok, so it’s not that far back, but it
was certainly a life-changing time for me as I had just moved to the Pacific Northwest which I captured so beautifully in my
first Portland Beavers post back on March 6th. It was a harsh
reality coming face-to-face with the fact that the only professional baseball
team within my proximity happened to be a short season-A club named the
Portland Rockies. Portland’s population back in
those days hovered in around 530,000 people; however, with Vancouver,
Washington to the north (where I lived) there
was an added 147,000 people, and another 137,000 people to the south in Oregon’s capital city, Salem. Mix that with all the surrounding
towns within a 75-mile circumference and you could probably have over 1 million
people. My point with this is that Portland
was just too big of a city to be stuck with only a short season-A club, and
they did it from 1995-2000.
Now, if you read my previous Beavers post you’d know that the
former AAA Beavers were packed up and relocated to Salt Lake City, Utah
by then-owner Joe Buzas at the end of the 1993 season. Luckily for Portland there was
another team within the state that was having a difficult time drawing crowds
and wins who was in the market for relocating themselves. So, at the end of the
1994 season the Bend Rockies, who had only been in existence since the 1992
season, made their way north and set up shop in the desperately-in-need-of-renovation
Civic Stadium for the start of the 1995 season.
Had I moved up there prior to their final season I probably
would have given a bit more care to the team; however, even in that final year
I still made it to 10 games in which they went 4-6 and finished the year with a
32-44 record. For a city of over 500,000 people they were lucky to pull in
1,000 people per game. It was pathetic, especially considering the fact that
the stadium is in downtown Portland
and pretty easy to get to. Either way, I was one of the few to see the up and
coming careers of the likes of Brad Hawpe, Garrett Atkins, Clint Barmes and
Cory Vance before they all moved up and on to bigger and brighter futures. But
this post isn’t really about them; it’s about the one year in which a team full
of nobodies led by then-manager Jim Eppard did the unthinkable in 1997.
In the team’s third year in Portland,
Eppard’s first, the Rockies had two players
that would touch the Major Leagues even for just a few games, pitcher Justin
Miller and first baseman Todd Sears. Sears’s Major League career would last
only 40 games in two years with the Minnesota Twins and the San Diego Padres
while Miller’s went seven years with Toronto Blue Jays, Florida Marlins San
Francisco Giants, Los Angeles Dodgers and a brief stint in Japan. Both of
their minor league careers stretch for more than 11 years each and neither were
that big of a factor for the Rockies in 1997; however, both were a part of the
team that went 44-32 which was good enough for their first division title as
they then went on to win their only Northwest League title. After that, the
only bit of success the Rockies found was in
their second division title in 1999 under then-manager Alan Cockrell.
This cap, which lasted all six years, is one of the last
relics from a team that only exists through records and memorabilia. Like a lot
of teams whose name is derived from their Major League affiliation, the
Portland Rockies logo was designed in the same styling as the Colorado Rockies,
but with a few personal touches. Obviously the “PR” is the same as the “CR,”
but the added rose is a tribute to the city which is known as the City of Roses which got its name from the perfect climate to grow
roses as displayed in the International
Rose Test
Garden, one of the city’s
most famous attractions. The other added feature is the mountain backdrop which
could be said is Mount Hood, which can easily be seen from Civic Stadium;
however, it is the same pattern which has been featured in the Rockies logo since their inaugural season in 1993. The
thing that is most interesting about the use of the mountain is that the
Colorado Rockies have only used this graphic on their twice in the team’s
history. The first came in 1999 on their Turn Ahead the Clock jerseys, which were
used for one game on August 18th, which the second came this season
with the team’s Diamond Era batting practice cap. The only time any team used
the graphic before this came before the Colorado Rockies took the field for
their first official game. That’s right, the 1992 Bend Rockies.
Due to the fact that most of the people I listed above had
mediocre careers with the Portland Rockies I decided to roll with two guys who
actually had profound careers whose talents then translated to the Major League
level. The only problem is that I can’t find any record of what jersey number
they wore. And while I could assume that the first number they wore in the
Majors was in fact their number in the minors, in this case that assumption
doesn’t fly as they both played in Portland
in 1998.
???- A fourth round draft pick by the Rockies out of Brandon High School
in Brandon, Florida in 1997, Chone Figgins had the
makings of being a superstar in the Major Leagues. Figgins only played one
season in Portland
and had a pretty successful season. In 69 games Figgins hit .283 with nine
doubles, three triples, one home run, 26 RBI and 25 stolen bases. His three
triples led the team and his 25 stolen bases were the second best. Figgins was
traded to the Anaheim Angels in 2000 and made his Major League debut on August
25, 2002.
Contrary to popular belief Figgins is not a bust. While his
time with the Seattle Mariners (three years) was rather lackluster, the eight
years he spent with the Angels were incredibly productive. He made one All-Star
Game appearance in his final season in Anaheim
in 2009 when he led the league with 101 walks along with his .298 average, 30
doubles and 42 stolen bases. Figgins led the American League in stolen bases in
2005 with 62 and cracked the top-25 in AL MVP voting four times (2004-2005,
2007 and 2009). When Figgins made his debut he wore the #6 all the way through
the end of the 2003 season.
???- The other mystery guest was drafted three times, twice
by the Mariners in 1995 and 1996 in the lower rounds and then a third time by
the Rockies in the 13th round in 1998 out of the University of South
Alabama.
Juan "Pornstache" Pierre’s first year as a professional came that season in Portland with Figgins, with Pierre having a borderline Hall of Fame first
season… for the minors. In 64 games Pierre
hit .352 with 93 hits, nine doubles, two triples, 30 RBI, 55 runs scored and a
team-leading 38 stolen bases. How the Rockies
didn’t win a NWL title that season as well is beyond me.
Pierre
only spent two more successful seasons in the minors before getting called up
on August 7, 2000 where he finished in sixth place for the National League
Rookie of the Year Award batting .310. The following season Pierre would swipe a NL-leading 46 bases and
hit .327 in 156 games, but get no love outside of that. Just wrong. Pierre’s Rockies career
would only last until the end of the 2002 season as he and pitcher Mike Hampton
were traded to the Florida Marlins right before the Winter Meetings. Pierre would end up
leading the NL in stolen bases again with 65 while leading the Marlins to their
second World Series victory in their 11-year history.
Pierre,
somehow, has never made an All-Star team. His two best season came with the
Marlins in 2003 and 2004 as he finished in the top-16 in NL MVP voting both of
those years behind batting averages of .305 and .326 respectively, a lot of
stolen bases and a ton of runs scored. Basically he was the prototypical
leadoff hitter of the 2000s.
What’s really interesting about Pierre and Figgins is that they both elected
to go with the #6 in their first year(s) in the Majors and then they both
changed it to the #9 right afterward. I’d like to think that there is some kind
of connection between the two of them to make them do that, but wouldn’t know
unless I asked them. Until I get that opportunity, or until a reader has photos
of either of them playing in Portland,
I’ll have to keep this cap blank and update it accordingly.
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